El Circo
The burlesque revival is clanging its way out into middle Australia. They’re here for hens’ nights, birthday parties, wife swapping parties and romantic renewals on the quieter couple’s balcony. You too can “repair your relationship on the rocky road of a burlesque performance.” First and foremost, this is a theatre restaurant and not molecular gastronomy’s finest moment. However, if you want to see molecular gastronomy as a wank, this is the place to do it. I never thought I’d call a pea soufflé a soothing balm, but after the textual horror of a liquid pea ravioli then equally shocking pea pop-rocks, it certainly was. The Boxed Mexican Crab was the most pleasurable dish to eat. But of course you’re here to see girls dangle from the ceiling; the dangling appendages of statuesque dancers; and the odd flash of flames. You’ve come to suck a virtual course from an unusual receptacle; laugh to a well-known Hitchcock movie scene and drink like a fish. Don’t expect the first one fast – as Sheridan pointed out, “some nights we make sixty cocktails.” The place would improve with a table captain to direct oblivious waiters to ensure all diners at a table slurp, suck and swallow in unison.
El Circo
Every Sunday at Slide, 41 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
Ph: (02) 8915 1899 www.elcirco.com.au
Theatre $90/head (no wine)